The purpose of the meeting was to acknowledge GBS achievements and challenges, and create a better ownership of the new joint goals for this year. These goals cover a number of areas crucial for development such as energy, roads, water, health, education and anti-corruption. Read more the goals Government and the development partners (DPs) have agreed in the Performance Assessment Framework (PAF). In Dodoma, the Government and the 12 DPs also signed a new Partnership Framework Memorandum (PFM) – a mechanism governing the GBS partnership. GBS is the preferred way of receiving aid for Government. It has the potential to increase domestic accountability of aid funds through the national system of control and accountability, as well as government ownership of the development policies supported by aid.
The commitment of USD 453 million is support the national budget for the financial year 2011/12. High performance by the Government over the next six months could release additional funds in the range of more than USD 100 million. This high level of support reflects DPs’ confidence in the Government’s ability to use resources to implement the national poverty reduction plan.
Norwegian ambassador Ingunn Klepsvik, also the Chair of the GBS development partners over the past 12 months, commended the Government in her speech in Dodoma: Tanzania’s continued stable and democratic political system, the Government’s strong commitment to growth and poverty reduction, generally stable macro-economic policies, and a public financial management system that, while still frail, is stronger than in most African countries, and provides reasonable assurance of the integrity of the use of public funds, she said.
However, Norway and the other DPs also made it clear that high level of GBS requires high level of results. In the current global economic climate DPs are, more than ever, required to demonstrate that development assistance delivers results and value for money. At the annual review of GBS in December 2010, performance was assessed to have been only moderately satisfactory. While much had been achieved there were important areas where progress had been slower than expected. Overall, the Government had only fully implemented about half of the agreed actions under the joint performance assessment framework. Reform efforts in key policy areas such as reducing poverty, improving the business environment, enhancing domestic accountability and improving the quality and equity of public services need to be speeded up to deliver better results. (Read the summary of the Annual Review Report). - We don’t doubt that the same desire for value for money and results is shared by the Government and the citizens of Tanzania, ambassador Klepsvik said.
Anti-corruption was one area mentioned in particular where evidence of progress and concrete results is highly important. A number of high-level corruption cases between 2000 and 2008 damaged Tanzania’s reputation. The government took some decisive actions that helped restore confidence, but it remains a concern that some of these cases have not been resolved. Progressing these cases towards conclusion as well as implementing promised legislative reforms would help to address the perception that progress in tackling corruption has slowed. An active fight against corruption is an underlying principle of, and essential for confidence in, GBS as a mechanism for aid delivery.
14 DPs signed the Partnership Framework Memorandum (PFM) in 2006 with its Performance Assessment Framework (PAF) that enable Tanzania and the development partners jointly to monitor and assess the progress being made in the implementation of MKUKUTA. The PFM ended in January 2011, and a new PFM was signed by Minister of Finance, Mr Mustafa Mkulo, and the 12 DPs in Dodoma on May 13th, agreeing the mechanisms for budget support for the next five years.
The following DPs provide GBS: African Development Bank, Canada, Denmark, European Union, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and World Bank. The European Union will now follow Norway as Chair for the group.